Safety snap catch



June 12, 1945. I J. J. HOLLAND Y "2,377,939

SAFETY SNAP CATCH Filed March 3, 1942 INVENT-OR. J5me: J' flu/land Patented June 12, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Y Y i 2,377,939

SAFETY SNAP CATCH James J. Holland, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application March 3, 1942, Serial No. 433,152 2 Claims. (of. 24-457) My invention relates to fasteners and relates particularly to fasteners for holding identifying pins on garments of thewearer of the pin.

Heretofore, safety guards, fasteners, or catches have been used on pins retaining objects to the garment of the wearer, but the pins have become lost by the guard opening either when the pin is being worn, or when the pin is not properly fas tened to the guard because of neglect when placing the pin onto the garment andturning the guard into claspingengagement with the pin. Be-

cause of the danger of losing the object held by th pin, particularly when the pin must be worn inview during the entire working day, I have inventeda safety catch that will not permit the pin to open even if the safety catch should accidentally become opened. j

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to make a safety catch for badge pins whereby the pin cannot be opened except at one predetermined point.

Another object of my invention is to provide a safety catch for a pin whichcannot be accidentally pulled open. l

Another objectfof my invention is to provide a safety snap catch for an object holding pin that I can be easily inserted and removed from a garment but which cannot he accidentally opened.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved device of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly efficient in operation.

With the above and related objects in view, my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an object, a holding pin attached to said object, and the safety snap catch embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the safety snap catch, pin and object showing the catch in an open position and with the pin held in looking relationship to the catch.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the elements illustrated in Figs, 1 and 2 but wherein the pin is in the one andonly position in which it can be removed from engagement with the safety snap catch.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 showing the jaw spring locking means for embracing the pin point.

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of a modifithe horizontal.

cation of the spring snap catch which is made of one piece of metal.

Fig.6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6--6 brin s. Referring now in detail to the drawing, I show in Fig. l an'object, generally designated as A, whichmay be a badge, an ornamental pin, an object of jewelry, a fabric holding member or related object, which object has upon the rear surface thereof a garment piercing metallic pin, generally designated as B, which pin has one end l0 pointed and the other end I2 U-shaped to surround a rivet M or other suitable holding means. The rivet i4 is suitably supported upon Standards or stanchions IE, only one of which is shown, the second standard being directly in back of the first standard.

The lower portion of the end I2 of the pin B engages either the bacl; of the object A itself or it engages a brace [8 to which the standards l6 may be fastened. The lower end portion 20 of the end I2 of the pin B serves as a spring for the resilient metal B whereby the tendency of the metallic pin Bis to spring outwardly.

The catch, clasp, or fastener, generally designated as C, is composed preferably of a single piece. of metal, which has parallel wings 22, 22 thereon. Each wing 22, 22 has an opening therein through which passes a rivet 24 that serves as a From the wing 22 of the catch C extends a por- 1 tion 26 which has an edge 28 that forms a stop by engaging the back of the object A, on which engages some other suitable stop member, and the portion 26 also is curved and extends into an arcuate formation 30. The stop 28 limits the movement of the catch C so that the catch is limited to move to an angle of approximately 45 to The portion 3|] forms two elongated jaws 32, 32 which substantially surround the pointed end of the pin and which serve as a friction catch, that is to say, the distance between the open ends of the jaws 32, 32 is slightly less than the diameter of the pin, hence actually contact one another when the pin is moved into locking relationship. This friction reaction of the jaws 32, 32 about the pin holds the pin in position by preventing any jarring movement of the object from separating the pin from its complementary holding clasp C; thus the pin will not become separated from the garment which the object A is moved further from the standard [6, V

the standard 16 being taken as a reference point. In this position the point ID of the pin B'can be pushed through the crotch or bay 34 to open position.

Repeated in other words, the bay 34, which is between the junction of the wing 22 and the jaw 32 on the clasp C, can be moved further from or closer to the standard I3, which is taken as a reference point, whereby the pin C may be moved to an open or closed position, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

However, it is to be noted that the resiliency of the pin B is such that even when the clasp C is opened, as in Fig. 2, it will not enable the pin to be dislodged from the clasp C. The pin only can be dislodged from locking contact with the clasp C when the pin point I is moved downwardly and through the bay 34. Thus, the inadvertent opening of the clasp G into a position, as illustrated in Fig. 2, will not unlock the pin, and when the pin is locked, as in Fig. 1, the jaws 32, 32 form a friction catch. v

Thus, the pin has three locking means, which may be summarized as follows:

(1) The inherent resiliency of the pin itself tends to push against the jaws of the clasp.

(2) The jaws of the clasp C serve as a locking means; and

(3) The location of the bay prevents the openof the pin except in a predetermined position.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I show a modification of a pin clasp or keeper, generally designated as Cl wherein a wing 22A has been bent inwardly to replace the rivet 24 of Fig. 1. In other words, the wing 22A serves as a rivet by having its inturned ends 23, 23 fit into a complementary opening of a standard 25. The object is still designated as A, and the clasp is designated as CI, as it is constructed in accordance with the principles as set forth with respect to clasp or catch C. The end 40 of catch Cl may have a long leverage with respect to its pivot point 22A as shown in Fig. 5,

where it is shown, so that the finger nail may be used to apply leverage to the catch or clasp C or CI to raise it to an oblique position.

The safety snap catch or clasp C also prevents the pin point ID from piercing the wearer of the object A while it is being worn, or while it is being removed or being inserted.

The safety snap catch can be used as a baby diaper pin, and it has the advantage that the pin will not prick the body of the wearer even if the pin should be opened, as is illustrated in Fig. 2. In the case of the safety snap catch being used on the diaper pin, the pin is used to fasten the ends of the diaper or other garment or garments together.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with an object, a safety snap catch, a pin having one, end pivoted to said object and one end free, said catch having two elongated jaws joined at one side by an integrally formed portion to serve as a catch for the free end of said pin, one of said jaws having a side crotch therein, said crotch being closer to the fixed end of said pin when the catch is closed than when the catch is opened, and a stop on said catch to limit the movement of the catch to approximately to the back of the object whereby the free end of the pin may only move through the crotch in said jaw, said catch and said pin being adapted to move in opposite directions in order to move said pin through the side crotch of the catch.

2. In combination with .an object, a safety snap catch for a resiliently mounted pin, said pin having one end pivoted and one end free, said catch having two elongated jaws joined at one side by an integrally formed portion to serve as a catch for the free end of said pin, one of said jaws having a side crotch, said crotch being closer to the pivoted end of said pin when the catch is closed about the free end of said pin than when the catch is opened, and a stop on said catch to limit the movement of the catch to approximately 45 to the back of the object whereby the free end of the pin may only move through the crotch in said jaw.

JAMES J. HOLLAND. 

